December 11, 2007

Designing Technology for Everyday Life

Sponsored by: WNY HFES
Presented by: Carman Neustaedter, Ph.D.
Kodak Research Labs

Location
RIT Building 70 Room 2400 (B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences)
5:30pm – 6:30pm. Networking after the meeting, 6:30pm – 7pm.
Park in Lot J. See campus map at http://inside.rit.edu/maps/

Abstract
Technology is all around us, affecting most aspects of our everyday lives. With this ubiquity comes a need to understand how to best design technology to fit within and extend our existing social practices. In this talk, I look at three case studies to illustrate how we can use an understanding of people’s existing social practices and needs to inform technology design.
First, I look at the privacy concerns of telecommuters as they attempt to collaborate and maintain communication with colleagues at the office through video conferencing systems. I discuss findings from a controlled experiment that investigates how awareness needs interplay with privacy concerns when video obfuscation is used to mitigate privacy in the video channel. I then outline a context-aware home video conferencing system as one possible solution to address the needs of telecommuters.
Second, I discuss the coordination challenges families face as they try to schedule and coordinate family activities. I outline findings from ethnographic interviews of families’ calendaring routines and show how this knowledge reveals insights into the design of digital family calendars to fit within and extend existing family practice. I present the design and field evaluation of LINC, a digital family calendar that makes family calendar information ubiquitously accessible wherever family members need it.
Third, I outline the challenges people face with browsing and managing large collections of photos. I describe ethnographic findings that demonstrate the routines families use to organize both film and digital photos. These show the importance of leveraging film photo routines in the digital realm. I then show how these suggestions may be realized within the design of digital photo management software.

About the Speaker
Dr. Carman Neustaedter is a Research Scientist in the Multimedia Systems group at Kodak Research Labs. His research interests are in human-computer interaction with a focus in domestic computing and computer-supported collaboration. In these areas, he seeks to understand the socio-technical factors of ubiquitous technology design to support the everyday social practices of individuals and groups. This multidisciplinary research spans the broad areas of computer science, cultural anthropology, sociology, and social psychology. Carman holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Calgary, Canada, and also spent several years working at Microsoft Research as an intern and research contractor.
http://www.carmster.com

COST: Members & Students – no cost; Non-members - $5 payable at the door

RSVP: Contact Jennifer Dyck by December 5, 716-673-3828, Jennifer.Dyck at fredonia.edu

Back to Top

November 13, 2007

Creating Human Factors Guidance for Complex Human-Machine Systems

Presented by: William F. Stubler, B.S., M.S.
Kodak Graphic Communications Group

Location:
 RIT Building 70 Room 2400 (B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences)
5:30pm – 6:30pm. Networking after the meeting, 6:30pm – 7pm.
Park in Lot J. See campus map at http://inside.rit.edu/maps/

Abstract
Medical devices, aircraft cockpits, process control centers, and other complex human-machine systems pose human performance demands that extend well beyond considerations of ease of use and out-of-the-box experience associated with consumer products. Some critical considerations include fault detection and diagnosis, error prevention and containment, system safety, and speed and accuracy for particular maneuvers. Adequate human factors guidance may not exist for these systems, especially where technologies are new or evolving. This paper presents a process for developing valid human factors guidance. Examples will be drawn from a project the author conducted to develop human factors guidelines for software-based controls for the US Nuclear Regulator Commission.

About the Speaker
Bill has been an internal human factors consultant for his entire career. At the Westinghouse Science and Technology Center in Pittsburgh, PA, he conducted research and provided design support for nuclear power plant control rooms and maintenance systems, elevators, escalators, defense systems, office furniture, and office productivity systems. At Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, NY, he developed human factors design review guidance for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the US Department of Energy. In 2001, Bill returned home to Rochester, NY to provide human factors and usability support to some smaller-scale process control systems - the NexPress family of digital printing presses – in Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group. Bill holds a BS degree in Industrial Engineering from SUNY at Buffalo and a MS in Human Factors / Engineering Design from Tufts University.

COST: Members & Students – no cost; Non-members - $5 payable at the door

RSVP: Contact Jennifer Dyck by November 6, 716-673-3828, Jennifer.Dyck at fredonia.edu

October 16, 2007

A Method for Evaluating Alternative Product Concepts: A Case Study

Presented by:

Stan Caplan, M.S., CHFP
Usability Associates

Abstract:
A critical point in the development of new products is the early selection of an appropriate concept that serves as the basis for moving forward. Human Factors professionals can play a key role in the selection process by using a method that collects meaningful quantitative and qualitative data from users. The case study presentation will (1) explain the process for generating alternative concepts for a handheld product and (2) highlight the method used to collect and analyze comparative quantitative data about their design and usability features. Actual results will be shown. Attendees will learn about the Mr. Potato Head approach to concept generation and about a modified Pugh method for data collection. They will also hear about lessons learned when doing such a study.

About the Speaker
Stan has been in the Human Factors field for 35 years, most of it at Eastman Kodak Company where he worked initially in workplace ergonomics and then in product design usability. At Kodak he had the opportunity to design usability for a wide range of products. He also supervised a Human Factors group responsible for usability of commercial, health, and ancillary products. For the last 10 years he has been president of Usability Associates. In this consulting capacity he has again helped design consumer, commercial, and medical products, this time for a variety of companies. He also does workshops and special projects, including organizational benchmarking and recruiting of Human Factors professionals for clients. In 2004 he established a consortium of product design and usability managers from Fortune 100 companies and he continues to facilitate consortium meetings and research. He is a past-president of the Western New York Chapter of HFES and is active in the Product Design Technical group of HFES.

COST:

Members & Students – no cost; Non-members - $5 payable at the door

RSVP:

Contact Jennifer Dyck by October 9, 716-673-3828, Jennifer.Dyck at fredonia.edu

Back to Top

Ergonomics in Practice in the Grocery Industry

Presented by:
Paul F. Hickey, M.Ed., CPE
Wegmans

Abstract:
The Grocery Industry is on the OSHA watch list as a potential high hazard industry. OSHA has released Guidelines for Retail Grocery Stores. Paul Hickey will discuss the role of ergonomics in the Grocery Industry to reduce the risk of injuries and will include trends on workstation design, packaging design and material handling.

About the Speaker:
Paul is a Board Certified Professional Ergonomist with over 15 years experience in the prevention, management and rehabilitation of overexertion musculoskeletal injuries, including 10 years at the University of Rochester. He joined Wegmans Food Markets in 1999 and is responsible for ergonomics efforts throughout the organization. He graduated in 1985 from Temple University with a master’s degree in Exercise and Work Physiology. While at the University of Rochester, Paul worked as a community-based Ergonomist through the Department of Occupational and Environmental. He provided ergonomics assistance in a variety of organizations and work situations including office, production, warehousing, health-care and retail industries. His work at Wegmans includes all aspects ergonomics work throughout the grocery chain, including work in the stores, corporate, distribution, and manufacturing. He works on both employee and customer issues. Professional activities include full membership in the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, past president of the Western New York Chapter of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, and lecturer nationally and internationally. He has co-authored articles on ergonomics and occupational rehabilitation in several peer-reviewed journals. He has co-authored a chapter on ergonomics in the Handbook of Pain Assessment and has recently collaborated on a chapter entitled Integrating Ergonomics in the Management of Occupational Musculoskeletal Pain and Disability in Perspectives in Rehabilitation Ergonomics.

DATE/TIME: May 8, 2007 4:30 pm

PLACE: RIT Building 70 Room 2400 (B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences)   Networking after the meeting. Park in Lot J. See campus map at http://inside.rit.edu/maps/

COST: Members & Students – no cost; Non-members - $5 payable at the door

RSVP: Contact Jennifer Dyck by May 1st, 716-673-3828, jennifer.dyck at fredonia.edu

A Study of Information Technology in Emergency Departments

Ann Bisantz, Associate Professor Industrial Engineering University at Buffalo, State University of New York

Abstract:
Hospital emergency departments (EDs) commonly use status boards as tools for managing their clinical work. These are typically large format, manually updated “whiteboards” which use a grid format to display bed locations / patients as rows and a variety of important information regarding patient demographic and medical information in columns. A typical ED could not function today without a whiteboard (or some facsimile of one). Interestingly, despite their central importance to the work of the ED and the safety of patients, they have hardly been studied. For a variety of reasons, some EDs have replaced their manual status boards with electronic, computer-supported versions, and many others are contemplating such a change. The motivations for this change are complex, and typically involve improving accuracy of information, providing better information to management or other “back end” processes and improving patient safety. However, insertion of technology into a complex work place like the ED is never a straightforward substitution of one for the other. New technologies sometimes increase workload instead of decreasing it, and the change in tools also induces changes in work practices, in the relationships among workers, and the relationship between the affected unit (the ED) and the rest of the organization.

This talk will describe preliminary analyses of a field study that is being conducted to document and analyze the impacts of the shift from manual to electronic whiteboards in the emergency departments of two hospitals.

About the Speaker
Ann Bisantz is an Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. Her areas of research include communicating uncertainty to decision makers using visual and multi-modal displays, methods in cognitive engineering, and modeling dynamic decision-making. Dr. Bisantz is the recipient of a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation, which has supported research activities in the area of visualization of uncertainty and dynamic decision-making, is collaborating on medical technology and patient safety studies funded in part by the Emergency Medicine Foundation and the Agency for Health Care Research on Quality, has received funding from NASA, the Center for Transportation Injury Reduction (through the Calspan-UB Research Corporation), a number of defense organization (through collaborations with Logicon and Charles River Analytics among others) and has been involved collaborative research with the Center for Multi-source Information Fusion at UB.

DATE/TIME: March 28, 2007 4:30 pm

PLACE: RIT Building 70 Room 2400 (B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences)   Networking after the meeting. Park in Lot J. See campus map at http://inside.rit.edu/maps/

COST: Members & Students – no cost; Non-members - $5 payable at the door

RSVP: Contact Jennifer Dyck by March 21st, 716-673-3828, jennifer.dyck at fredonia.edu

Back to Top

November 30, 2006

Studying Team Communication and Coordination in Surgery

Stephanie Guerlain, Associate Professor, Department of Systems & Information Engineering - University of Virginia

Universal Design and Human Factors

The goal of universal design is to support independence through the built environment, products, communications systems and information technology. There is a strong relationship between human factors and universal design. But, human factors researchers and practitioners need to consider changing methods and approaches to address universal design. Experience in practice, suggests that we need to shift our concept from designing a "prosthetic environment" toward thinking of the environment as a "field of opportunity." This presentation will give an introduction to universal design and a rationale for this change of paradigms. Examples from both research and practice will be presented for discussion.

About the Speaker

Edward Steinfeld, Arch.D., is a registered architect and design researcher with special interests in universal design, accessibility and design for the lifespan. At The State University of New York at Buffalo (UB), he is a Professor of Architecture and Director of the IDEA Center. Dr. Steinfeld has directed over 30 sponsored research projects and has an extensive publication record. Many of his publications are considered key references in the fields of accessible and universal design. He is internationally known for his research and has traveled widely to lecture in many countries. In 2003 received a Distinguished Professor Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture and has also received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA) and Progressive Architecture. Recently, he received a Ron Mace, Designing for the 21^st Century Award from Adaptive Environments. He is a frequent consultant to federal and state agencies, building owners and attorneys and has designed several buildings that are home to many people with severe disabilities.

Details

DATE/TIME: June 7, 2006 @ 4:30pm – 5:30pm. Come at 4:00 for networking.

PLACE: RIT Building 70 (B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences)

• Room 2400 (Information Technology Conference Room – 2^nd floor)
• Park in Lot J. See campus map at http://inside.rit.edu/maps/.

COST: Members & Students – no cost; Non-members - $5 payable at the door

How Kodak Reduces Musculoskeletal Risk

This session will be an explanation and demonstration of how Kodak's MAG (Musculoskeletal Analysis Guide) package evolved as the core of the Company’s ergonomic job improvement process. This is a comprehensive methodology for musculoskeletal job analysis and improvement. It was developed beginning in 2000 with the objective to enable and incent non-ergonomists to identify high-risk jobs, analyze them, and to develop, implement and track improvements. The presenters will review a case study to demonstrate how the MAG package is used in the overall process to improve jobs at Kodak.

Nancy Laurie is a product stewardship engineer for Eastman Kodak Company and is a Certified Professional Ergonomist. She has a PhD in Industrial Engineering with primary focus on mathematical modeling of cumulative trauma disorders at the wrist. She has worked in the field of ergonomics for 15 years with experience in creating sustainable ergonomics programs, teaching, and workplace design incorporating lean manufacturing principles. She joined Eastman Kodak Company in 2000 as a Senior Ergonomist and has had responsibilities within manufacturing in Rochester as well as Europe and Middle East Regions. During her tenure with WW Ergonomics she was the driving force behind the development and automation of the MAG package. Her current role with Kodak focuses on Equipment Commercialization ensuring that newly commercialized products are designed to meet health, safety and environmental regulations worldwide. She partners with Kodak’s Corporate Design and Usability group to better design the physical interface to large scale industrial health equipment.

Grant Esler is an ergonomist at Kodak who has served in a variety of health and safety roles for 28 years. Grant was an industrial hygienist, program manager and group leader. He served as Kodak’s Manager of HSE Training and Education. He also served as the HSE Manager for Global Customer Service and Support where he promoted ergonomic design for maintainability for Kodak equipment. He developed programs, developed and delivered training as an HSE Technical Associate for Kodak’s Health Group. Grant is a certified Industrial Hygienist and Certified Safety Professional. He studied Ergonomics at Boston University and the University of Michigan where he earned his MPH. He has been working in this field for the past 5 years, coaching industrial and office clients to implement ergonomic programs that improve jobs.

This has obvious applications to market research, where semiotics is at the forefront of new qualitative methodologies in North America. Already common in Europe, the demand for semiotic analysis as a methodology is now beginning to grow here, particularly when the objective involves the assessment of creative concepts, brand or product names, or proposed product packaging. Semiotics allows for the systematic analysis and quantification of communication elements previously inaccessible through other methodologies. Semiotic analysis can be undertaken as a solo research initiative between researcher and text, used as an enhancement tool for focus groups moderators, as well as for ethnographers and cultural anthropologists.

Semiotics is also an excellent methodology to apply to product design. The way a product is designed, and the shape and feel of it all communicate information to the consumer above and beyond the product’s literal functionality. Semiotics can offer an assessment of design elements and whether they are congruent with the product’s purpose, category, and target consumer.

Narrative Congruence: occurs when a plurality of narrative texts (storyline, plot, visual image, music, etc.) all communicate the same information about your product/brand/service to the same people at the same time, at the same speed. The result is a very strong communication.

Narrative Congruence is the Holy Grail of leveraged branding.

About the Speaker

Slide Presentation:

Details

Nathaniel Martin, Researcher, Xerox Corporation

 Western New York Chapter Human Factors and Ergonomics Society

Human Factors can be applied to all areas of interaction. This event will focus on the application of user-centered design principles to social milieus with an eye toward the maximization of user delight and appeal. This talk will focus on specific issues such as the optimum design for a food plate to hold the maximum amount of chicken wings in both with drink and without drink conditions, as well as the ergonomic comfort and its effect on performance for items such as pool cue sticks and darts. Multiple within subject experiments are planned.

DATE/TIME: February 23, 2006 @ 4:30pm – 6:00pm.

• PLACE: MacGregor’s Grill & Tap Room, 300 Jefferson Road (down the road from RIT).
• COST: No Cost – Soda and Finger Foods (vegetables, chicken wings) will be provided
• RSVP: Contact the following by February 20.

Professor Alan Hedge,

Department of Design and Environmental Analysis

Cornell University

Western New York Chapter,  Human Factors and Ergonomics Society

His research and teaching activities have focused on issues of design and workplace ergonomics as these affect the health, comfort and productivity of workers. He has co-authored a book on  Healthy Buildings, co-edited the Handbook of  Human Factors and Ergonomics Methods, published 30 chapters and over 160 articles on these topics in the ergonomics and related journals. He received the 2003 Alexander J. Williams Jr. Design Award from the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society for " outstanding human factors contributions to the design of a major operational system".

Ease of Use the Primary Motivator for

A Visual Intelligence User Interface

Pictometry is a local company with international customers. Various government agencies in the U.S. and elsewhere purchase Pictometry’s product because it is a unique patented information system that combines aerial imaging with a state of the art software system that has the ability to provide Visual Intelligence™ unlike any other system available. While Pictometry libraries contain orthogonal (straight down) images like ordinary aerial imaging, over 80% of Pictometry's images are oblique (taken from angles) so that features can be easily seen in their entirety. Within seconds, using Pictometry's Electronic Field Study (EFS) software, a user can literally see everywhere, measure anything and plan everything. This means that clients can literally view and analyze any house, building, intersection, fire hydrant, tree or any feature in their county from their laptop or workstation. Features can be viewed from at least three and up to twelve different directions. The images are all in a full color, high resolution, digital format. Pictometry does not utilize or produce authoritative or definitive information (surveying) from its aerial images, but is a second order visualization tool that supports the many needs of its customers in their market segments.

Pictometry International Corp's Electronic Field Study(tm) software (EFS(tm)) has been designed with ease of use in mind with the goal of allowing anyone and everyone to utilize imagery and geospatial data in their daily tasks. This is achieved by hiding as much of the technical information as possible and making the measuring tools simple and intuitive. Pictometry and its software have garnered awards and praise from the industry for its ability to achieve these goals.

DATE/TIME: October 20, 2005 @ 4:30pm – 5:30pm. Come at 4:00 for networking.

PLACE: RIT Building 70 (B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences)

Room 2400 (Information Technology Conference Room – 2nd floor)

Park in Lot J. See campus map at http://facilities.rit.edu/index.asp?page=map.asp.

COST: Members & Students – no cost; Non-members - $5 payable at the door

RSVP: Contact the following by Oct 18th

Nate Romano, 585-726-0049, nathan.romano at kodak.com

A Double Header:

Papers Slated for Presentation at HFES Annual Meeting

Professor Colin Drury

Department of Industrial Engineering, SUNY - Buffalo

Sponsored by:

Observations of group meetings were used to help our understanding of the Data Mining (DM) process which can take a year to complete. Over a course of three months, we followed two collaborative groups and observed their weekly meetings, where they devised DM models and explored new ways to analyze and present microarray data. The study furthered the current understanding of the DM activities by revealing its socio-technical aspects, and directed a promising design approach for a more efficient and effective DM system. Field observations of collaborative meetings disclosed that a longitudinal study is, in fact, appropriate and necessary to further understand the DM process and the system.

English is the language of aviation, including aviation maintenance. As more maintenance work is outsourced to non-English-speaking countries, language error may be a problem. A study of 254 maintenance personnel at nine sites in Chinese-speaking countries measured the reported incidences of seven scenarios and tested intervention effectiveness. Four of the scenarios had reported incidence of 4-5 per year, and the expected causal factors were reported. A test of interventions to work documentation revealed that participants tended to maintain a constant level of accuracy and speed to produce this level. A Chinese translation of the document was the only significant intervention, giving about a 10% speed advantage.

Colin G. Drury is UB Distinguished Professor of Industrial Engineering at University at Buffalo, where his work is concentrated on the application of human factors techniques to manufacturing and maintenance processes. Since 1989 he has been leading a team applying human factors techniques to reduce errors in aviation maintenance and inspection: the Research Institute for Safety and Security in Transportation (RISST). Formerly Manager of Ergonomics at Pilkington Glass, he has over 200 publications on topics in industrial process control, quality control, aviation maintenance and safety. He was the founding Executive Director of The Center for Industrial Effectiveness, which works with regional industries to improve competitiveness and has been credited with creating and saving thousands of jobs in the region. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Industrial Engineers, the Ergonomics Society, the International Ergonomics Association and the Human Factors Ergonomics Society, and received the Bartlett medal of the Ergonomics Society and the Fitts Award of the Human Factors Ergonomics Society. He has a private pilot's license.

Details

DATE/TIME: Sept 15, 2005 @ 4:30pm – 5:30pm. Come at 4:00 for networking.

PLACE: RIT Building 70 (B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences)

Back to Top